I have a fantasy island nation that is located in the Atlantic between North America and Europe. The island is large, about the size of Australia. The island was first settled by and colonized by Europeans in 1509. The island was sectioned off by, colonized, and settled by the English, French, Spanish,Dutch, and Belgians. The Spanish founded and settled several significant settlements in 1509 though the English and French had the greatest influence on the nation culturally. Through a gradual process these colonies formed into one nation. A realistic but fitting name recommendation would be greatly appreciated. Perhaps a name after a king, queen, prince, or princess but a name that would sound like a realistic nation, thank you.

EricPoehlsen

04-19-2012, 06:57 AM

There is just one name for a mid-atlantic-island: Atlantis :D

Heinrich Zweihänder

04-19-2012, 07:56 AM

… or iceland… or the açores.

If it is in the north, you definitevely overlook the influence of Denmark and Swenden in the exploration of the atlantic ocean. If it is more in the south you forgot the Portugese explorers. And how would Belgians, independant country only since the XIXth managed to settle that lately there if there were already other strong European nation involved*?

The nation name can come from either the name of one of the explorer (look for a spanish or portugese name), or the name these explorer refer the island before it has a name. Like the «*far island*». The name could be possibly in latin, the “international” language at the time, or in the language of the explorers.

octopod

04-19-2012, 01:17 PM

The real island continent that was in that same position in the Paleozoic is referred to as "Avalonia"...

Lukc

04-20-2012, 08:10 AM

Another obvious one would be something like "Sealand" - Terre de Mere, Tiera del Oceano ... or something like "Westland" - if the occitan's discovered it, or Basque fishermen, it could be something like "Oc Nouvelle" or "Euskal lur berria" (the new Basque land - translated by google).

veracusse

04-21-2012, 07:51 PM

If the Spanish were the first ones there and established colonies and settlements then the names and possibly the name of the island itself would come from Spanish/Latin roots. However, since the English and the French have the most dominant impact on the culture the Spanish names/words would be borrowed into English and follow the English pronunciations. After all, the name "America" came from Latin origins named after the Italian explorer "Amerigo". So you could use ideas like this to create a name and a history for your island nation.

gorkamorka

07-08-2012, 06:22 PM

It's always been called Thule.
LINK TO WIKIPEDIA HERE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thule)

Niedfaru

07-09-2012, 07:57 AM

When, historically, do you need the name for? If the Spanish founded the first settlements there, they would have a name for it, but there's no telling whether subsequent nations would have respected that name, or given it a new name. Even if they simply used the same name, it would be a loanword, and would thus change to conform to the phonology of those languages, and over time would evolve with the language. However, if they didn't use the same name, there could easily be five or six names for the island. But, the likelihood is that if you get as far as the late 19th Century, one or two of those names would be dominant, depending on who represented the place in international diplomacy. Really, from what others have said, and from this, you should get the idea that we (and possibly you) need more information about the place before you can give it a realistic name.

I have an excellent article I downloaded years ago that seems to have gone offline.

46417

It is meant for creating a basic constructed language for the purposes of naming places and people in a fabricated setting. However I can see how you could use it perfectly adequately for naming made up place in the real world. Just ignore the first part of the article about making the language, and go on to the second part about using it to make your names. Use Spanish, Middle/Early Modern English, French, Dutch, (only English has changed significantly in that time period) or whatever other language you find relevant in place of the naming language. It contains a basic description of sound change in proper names, but you can apply the principles to a place name too.